The Charwoman's Shadow (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series) [Mass Market Paperback]

Lord Dunsany (Author), Gervasio Gallardo (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 1973

An old woman who spends her days scrubbing the floors might be an unlikely damsel in distress, but Lord Dunsany proves once again his mastery of the fantastical. The Charwoman's Shadow is a beautiful tale of a sorcerer's apprentice who discovers his master's nefarious usage of stolen shadows, and vows to save the charwoman from her slavery.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Lord Dunsany is the great grandfather of us all."
--JANE YOLEN
   Winner of the National Book Award,
   Nebula Award, and World Fantasy Award

"Lord Dunsany is the fountainhead of all twentieth-century fantasy. He was certainly the finest inventor of titles ever to grace English Literature."
--DAVE DUNCAN
   Author of The Gilded Chain

"How wonderful that Del Rey is bringing back The Charwoman's Shadow and The King of Elfland's Daughter for readers, new and old alike, to discover them anew. It will be a delight to read it for the first time again."
--DENNIS L. MCKIERNAN
   Author the Hèl's Crucible duology

"No one can understand modern fantasy without understanding its roots, and Lord Dunsany's work is immensely significant as well as enjoyable, even today."
--KATHERINE KERR --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

An old woman who spends her days scrubbing the floors might be an unlikely damsel in distress, but Lord Dunsany proves once again his mastery of the fantastical. The Charwoman's Shadow is a beautiful tale of a sorcerer's apprentice who discovers his master's nefarious usage of stolen shadows, and vows to save the charwoman from her slavery. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 213 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Edition Thus edition (January 12, 1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034523085X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345230850
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,140,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true classic fantasy from a great writer - worth a try !, November 13, 1999

By 

"jd_amz1" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Charwoman's Shadow (Del Rey Impact) (Paperback)

Perhaps less well-known than "The King of Elfland's Daughter", this book is one of two Dunsany works in Iberian settings in a world that never was (the other is "Don Rodriguez"). It is a wonderful fantasy which just flows for the reader. The language is rich, the description powerful - the keen introdction gives a classic example on the art of writing. This is not some basic overused plot but is interesting enough to have been a real legend. Nor is there a simple black & white setup - the hero's opponent is a character of substance who contributes some of the book's great moments. Any lover of good fantastic fiction deserves a read of this kind of book (they're all too rare). Give it a try and keep an eye out for any other Dunsany volumes - this author, gone over forty years now, could show (and has shown) the way for so many today. The sheer volume of compliments from authors of today speaks to the contribution Lord Dunsany made (and still makes). Publishers, any chance or reprinting more of the canon ?

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantasy classic, November 23, 2002

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Charwoman's Shadow (Del Rey Impact) (Paperback)

Before Tolkien told his children bedtime stories about hobbits and dwarves, there was Lord Dunsany. One of the early fantasy writers, Dunsany only wrote a few full-length novels -- one of which was the haunting, beautifully-written "Charwoman's Shadow." (And if anyone thinks that J.K. Rowling made up the immortality elixir and "philosopher/sorcerer's stone," they better read this!)

Ramon Alonzo is a young Spanish nobleman sent to find a dowry for his sister Mirandola. He goes to a powerful magician to learn alchemy -- how to turn dross into gold. The magician agrees, at a price: Ramon Alonzo's shadow. At first he's inclined to give up his shadow, but an elderly charwoman warns him not to. She gave up her shadow, and now is shunned by everyone except the magician because if her contact with dark magic.

Eventually Ramon Alonzo agrees to give up his shadow in exchange for a replacement, which turns out to be a dud. His attempts at magic for his sister's sake begin to go horribly wrong, and he finds his very soul in peril as he struggles to fulfil his promise to the charwoman, and get back both of their shadows.

Most of Dunsany's fantasy stories are set in fictional lands full of magic and wizards and gods. This one is slightly different, as it is set in a sort of semi-fictional part of Spain, and magic is something which seeps naturally to great evil. But the entire world it's set in has the same sort of fantastical edge that his books usually do. Kids with a good attention span can read this, though some may be bored by the gradual pace and flowery language. And the language is very flowery. Dunsany writes in his standard dreamy prose, with a lot of very strange imagery (like the charwoman scrubbing a bloodstained floor stone, or Ramon Alonzo's fake shadow getting up and racing away).

Ramon Alonzo is a nice leading character -- he's a good guy who gets enmeshed in bad things for good reasons. His spiritual struggle and chivalrous rescue of the charwoman Anemone and her shadow are central to the plot. Anemone herself remains a mystery for most of the book, although one development is rather obvious early on. The magician is a cold, unsympathetic character who "scorns salvation" and shows no pity to someone he's wronged. Father Joseph serves as the counterbalance for the magician, a kindly priest who helps Ramon Alonzo out.

A beautiful story about love, magic, and kindness, this is a must-read for fans of classic fantasy. See why Dunsany is still one of the best.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic of fantasy...come learn the magic of language!, March 24, 2004

By 

Claude Avary "West Coast Reader" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Charwoman's Shadow (Del Rey Impact) (Paperback)

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, better and more succinctly known by his title, Lord Dunsany (pronounced "done-SANEY"), is perhaps the most important British fantasy author to appear before Tolkien. Lord Dunsany's work has little connection to Tolkien's except that both create feelings of wonder in readers that whisk them away to fantastic worlds. Dunsany's work has a less realistic, more ethereal quality than Tolkien's, and draws strongly on the traditional fairy-tale, while at that same time energizing the simplicity of the fairy-tale with his sense of drama (Dunsany was also a playwright) and with his magnificent, fluid, beautiful writing. His 1927 novel, "The Charwoman's Shadow," is one of his greatest works, second only to "The King of Elfland's Daughter."

Edward Plunkett was born in 1878, became the 18th Lord Dunsany upon the death of his father in 1899, and made an unsuccessful attempt to run for parliament in 1904. With his failure in politics, he began writing his stories of the fantastic, beginning with the collection (currently in-print) "The Gods of Pegana." He enjoyed great literary success and acclaim until his death in 1957, but sadly, at the end of the century, his literature seemed in danger of vanishing from the minds of all but ardent fantasy historians and those who could afford the out-of-print volumes containing his work. But Dunsany has suddenly roared back into print; if you're a lover of fantasy, you cannot miss "The Charwoman's Shadow." It ranks as one of finest novels of the fantastic.

The story takes place in a fantasy vision of medieval Spain: "Picture an evening sombre and sweet over Spain, the glittering sheen of leaves fading to somberer colours...Picture the Golden Age past its wonderful zenith, and westering now towards its setting." Young Ramon Alonzo goes to learn the One True Art -- the art of magic -- from a master magician who lives in an old house in the woods. The Master requires a fee, however: Don Alonzo's shadow. The boy surrenders it, believing it is of no use to him. But even as he advances himself in the magic arts, he soon learns there are serious consequences to losing your shadow. An old charwoman who works for the Master seeks Don Alonzo's aid, for she too lost her shadow many years ago to the Master, and she desires it back. The two enter an alliance, one that Don Alonzo starts to regret when he discovers the youthful beauty of the old charwoman's shadow.

There are no action set-pieces in "The Charwoman's Shadow," no epic battles, no swarms of monsters and demons, but every sequence in the book is full of unforgettable images and beauty. The scene of re-attaching the shadow makes the book a masterpiece on its own; it reduced me to tears the first time I read it. Lord Dunsany will remind you of no other writer, and you'll thrill to discover his unique take on fantasy, feeling if you were sharing a secret private encounter.

Dunsany's word magic pulses stronger than any of the actual magic that appears in the book. In fact, the book is really about the power of language itself; we spend time with Don Alonzo pouring over words and learning their secrets. As Peter S. Beagle (author of "The Last Unicorn") says in his brief but powerful introduction, Dunsany had "an understanding that the right name for a character can imply an entire culture, a history, a music, a world; that a single word chosen properly can persuade a reader that he shares a folklore he can't possibly know...To open this book is, like Don Ramon Alonzo, to begin learning the true nature of enchantment from a master."

I can't give a better recommendation than that, so I will only second him: open this book and fall deep into the fantasy of language.